Ivy
What the hell was I thinking?
The earth was slick and wet from all the rain. Not to mention—I had no idea where I was going. There was a path cutting through the trees, but with how wet the ground was, it was mud, not paved.
Should I be going off the path? Xerxes was going to find me regardless. The male was a goddamnbeast. He would have no issue finding me out here. So, it wasn’t like I was going to get lost.
And if he didn’t, one of the others would.
But Goddess above, was I really okay to have back-to-back bonding? I’d only completed the bond with Hawk last night. Physically, I felt fine. No ache, no pains.
And mentally, I felt…okay. There hadn’t been any unwanted visitors in my dreams.
Emotionally, I felt even better. More secure and settled. I chalked it up to Hawk, but it also had a lot to do with Xerxes and Thor wanting to accept the bond. Despite this being in the most unromantic way possible, they wanted to be with me.
After everything, it really shouldn’t take me by surprise, but it did. Every time I met a mate and they wanted to be with me, it was like a shock to the system. For a moment, I was a teenage girl again being told I could never be loved for what Ilooked like—for the way I was—and it made me second guess everything.
“But here I am,” I muttered, finally stepping off the path into the trees when it became less steep of a decline, “running off to get chased by my mate.”
I considered undressingbeforehe found me. The thought had me stopping beside a large tree and looking over my shoulder. I really,reallycouldn’t afford to lose more clothes because my mates liked to tear mine apart. And without my magic, I couldn’t just whisk them away myself.
Somewhere in the distance, I heard a branch break. Cursing under my breath, I started through the forest again, picking up my pace.
Pregnant and running through trees, I thought, shaking my head. Well, not running. I really couldn’t do that anymore. Not with the uneven wet earth or without a bra—or without my magic to keep me going. This was not a good look for me.
At the sound of footsteps, I looked over my shoulder again, heart pounding. I expected to see Xerxes’s large form between the trees, the dark fur of his Primal, those black eyes already locked on me.
But there was nothing, and somehow that made the anticipationworse.
I stopped for a moment and gasped for breath. Again, I heard rustling that most definitely wasn’t because of the breeze. I expected to be scared, but the only thing happening to me was a fluttering of desire between my thighs I couldn’t ignore.
Before I could move, something else sounded behind me. A deep, guttural growl that had me stiffening. My skin prickled, but not with fear.
I turned slowly, sucking in a sharp breath as Xerxes stalked through the trees. Dark eyes locked on me as he moved on all fours, teeth bared. I most definitely felt like prey as he prowled towards me, but not in a terrifying way.
I took a step back, one he met easily. “You didn’t put up much of a chase,” he growled, rising onto his hind legs.
Swallowing, I tipped my face to keep his stare. “Unfortunately, I’m not built for it.”
There was something about him chuckling that sent tingles of desire right through me. I backed up another step, this time hitting the trunk of a tree. When he met the step, it put my face at the bottom of his chest. I’d almost forgotten just how damn huge he was as a Primal. Nearly eight feet tall, he towered over me in an entirely different way to how Damon did. And especially shifted, it was like being face to face with something from my nightmares.
But I felt no fear staring at him.
“You are tiny like this, fated,” he said, voice deep. He planted one large hand-shaped paw on the tree above my head and leaned down, snout brushing my nose.
I shuddered, pressing further into the tree. “Not something normally said about me,” I replied, taking in his giant form again—and the space where his penis should have been.
Again, he chuckled, the sound rushing through me. He brought his free hand to my chin, holding my face all too gently. “There is no rush,” he said, though each word sounded strained. “No matter how badly my Primal wants to finally lay claim to you.”
A shiver rolled down my spine. Those final words came out as another guttural growl, reverberating right through me. I squeezed my thighs together as another wave of arousal rushed through me, sucking in a breath at the flare of his nostrils, the groaning sound making the feeling worse.
“Your body says you want me,” he growled, the hand beneath my chin disappearing to skim the length of my body. “But what does your heart say?”
I couldn’t hold back from moaning as he held firm to my hip, giant hand somehow engulfing my side. My breaths came hard as my heart pounded, racing with anticipation.
What did my heart want? Logically, this was what we needed. The bond had to be completed. We only had five days until the eclipse in Avalon. Five days to get ready for war.
But in this moment, I didn’t want to think logically aboutwar and survival. Staring into the dark eyes of my mate, the Primal beast and the male who saved me in the compound, I only wanted to think about the future.
